Decision 42 COM 7B.59

Gebel Barkal and the Sites of the Napatan Region (Sudan) (C 1073)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC-16/40.COM/7B,
2. Recalling Decision 40 COM 7B.28, adopted at its 40th session (Istanbul/UNESCO, 2016),
3. Notes the preventive conservation efforts and preservation actions so far implemented by the State Party in the framework of the Qatar-Sudan Archaeological Project;
4. Expresses its concern about the overall state of conservation of the property which, according to the information provided, appears to be in a perilous state, reflecting years of neglect, lack of maintenance and protection, and inadequate management and staff capacity, which result in the deterioration of important attributes, threatening the property’s integrity and having a direct negative impact on its Outstanding Universal Value (OUV);
5. Regrets that, despite its previous request, no clear information has been provided on the overall strategy and status of project activities for each of the five component parts, nor have the urgent management and monitoring issues been addressed;
6. Also regrets that no information has been provided concerning the completion of the mapping to clearly identify boundaries of the five component parts in accordance with the standards identified in Annex 11 of the Operational Guidelines;
7. Urges the State Party, in cooperation with the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies, to address the management issues and need for a monitoring system in order to adequately target long-term conservation needs, and to provide details on the tourism management plan, as well as detailed documentation on the actions carried out and planned in the five component parts;
8. Requests the State Party to provide detailed information and documentation on the proposal to construct a cover over the El Kurru funerary temple, to the World Heritage Centre for review by the Advisory Bodies;
9. Also requests the State Party to invite, as a matter of urgency, a joint World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS Reactive Monitoring mission to the property to: evaluate its state of conservation, identify precise threats to its OUV in collaboration with key national and international stakeholders, develop a plan of action to address the issues of management, monitoring and visitor management, and to determine whether the state of conservation of the attributes that sustain the OUV of the property, notably its authenticity and integrity, are subject to ascertained or potential danger; in line with Paragraph 179 of the Operational Guidelines;
10. Further requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 February 2019, an updated report on the state of conservation of the property and the implementation of the above, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 43rd session in 2019.